Ok, yes, I’m a super-spreader
If some well-meaning person said to me, “Just be nice, Jan”, I’d probably feel a bit like gagging. (Wouldn’t you?) Bear witness now, as I take a dip into my inner drama queen, avoiding as best I can a full immersion in her oh-so seductive quicksand.
Got up at the break of light, dressed quickly, out the driveway, 7 miles down to the medical center. Managed to find a place in the already crowded parking deck. Walked on the long walkway to the building, admitted with proper ID, moving to the first registration point.
After offering (twice) all the requested information, I knew I was in trouble. No, there was no appointment for me in the system. (Uttered a very guttural “argh” only my inner drama queen could hear.) Was dispatched to the basement lab for a second-check of my appointment. Also deemed persona non-grata at the lab. Teeth clenched, I returned to main registration and was informed I had no alternative for keeping the disappeared appointment.
“$%@!”)!!
Oh, bravissimo, the occasional adult who resides in me awakened just then! Taking my hysterical inner kid by the hand, we proceeded to a scheduler’s office. Once the scheduler understood I was not trying to snooker her, she reinserted the appointment. Feeling bolstered, I zipped right back down to the first floor‘s registration point.
The new appointment did not show up in the system. I was counseled to be patient. (Sure, right!)
Ten minutes into my vitriolic internal snit fit, no longer was I persona non grata in the appointment system. After bouncing around like an inebriated pinball, ‘nice’ would not be the best adjective to describe my mood. I was a verbal tantrum just waiting to spill out - on anyone.
Uh oh, an inner drama queen resurgence. Down girl!
Yep, that did it. My caring “down girl” bought me enough time to recall a quote I’d recently saved to my files.
“We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.”
~ A saying of the Dakota tribe
Who am I this time? The rightfully furious medical patient wanting to spray her fury on anyone with whom she came in contact? Or remembering it was mine to choose how I might react. Me! I could make that choice! Not driven by an unfortunate situation that left me seething.
Those weren’t the tracks I wanted to leave in a Medical Center that’s just as fallible as we humans are. (You know you’re fallible, right?) Nope, nope, nope.
Truth. From my purse, dug up and donned my invisible civility cape. Had a great ol’ time being a civility super-spreader until I left the building. Didn’t even take my civility cape off as I walked back to the parking deck. You know, for a very difficult day, I felt pretty good on the way home, leaving quite a few smiles behind me. Worth it.